William Peak Co-Operative Homes

William Peak Co-Operative Homes, a social housing property located at 1990 Whites Road, Pickering, Ontario, was placed in receivership pursuant to the Housing Services Act on July 22 on application by the Regional Municipality of Durham. An auditor's management letter issued in January 2020 noted significant deficiencies in the internal controls of the co-op's finances, including those related to conflicts of interest, financial statement accuracy, housing charges arrears and control over credit cards. In response, the municipality, as the designated service manager, appointed Deloitte as interim receiver in February 2020. Deloitte reported several areas of concern, including payments to parties related to board members, payments to contractors where payments were not commercially reasonable, credit card purchases using the co-op's card that did not appear to reflect legitimate expenses and potential misappropriation of housing charge payments. In June, the Region determined that a court-appointed receivership was required to finish stabilizing the co-op's operations and locate and train new members to become the co-op's new board of directors. Deloitte is the receiver. Blaney McMurtry is counsel for the receiver.